Chick swallowed twine, now dieing

[Chickens-246]

Trying to entertain the 3 week old crew, I mounted a piece of twine to the top of the brooder. I thought they would shred it, but instead it broke from the top (I did a second one that I watched, didn't watch the first one). As far as I can tell, she ate 8 inches of twine.

Now she is lethargic, I haven't seen her eat/drink in two days, she also sleeps standing up, wing tucked. She will take electrolytes from a dropper but it literally passes right thought her. She ate a little bit of wet feed, but not enough to keep an ant alive. I fear her insides are damaged/blocked. Is it time to put her down?

 

[HathawayHens]

If you can feel the string in her crop, maybe you can get it out if you are into that sort of thing... otherwise, I think the kind thing to do if you think she is suffering is to put her down. I'm sorry - that is really sad.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Wow, if it was me I would offer grit if you have not yet. She needs grit for her gizzard to be able to grind the string if she has a chance -- the only other choices I see are surgery on her crop or put her down.



For entertainment - get a cabbage and cut it in half - offer to them, you can also offer corn on the cob, hunks of grass from the yard, half a red apple, mealworms or crickets. Just be sure they have grit or sand. In fact a tub of sand is fantastic joy for the chicks - they love to bathe and scratch thru the sand.

 

[Chickens-246]

Her crop is empty.

 

[Dar]

what about making a slurry of chick feed and feed it to her with a dropper?

 

[HathawayHens]

ugh. poor baby. try the grit, if she'll eat it... but if she really got string in there, it could be doing major damage to her insides... can you see any coming out the back end?

I am so sorry for you.

 

[bakerjw]

Stringy objects tend to bind up the intestines. I've heard of dogs eating elastic straps from clothing and requiring surgery to clear the blockage. I am not sure what kinds of laxatives that there are for chicks. Mineral oil? Something to really get it lubed up. <-- total non expert opinion though.

 

[bakerjw]

Any news?

 

[Chickens-246]

She won't touch the chick feed, dry, wet or slurry from a dropper. I was able to get her to eat a tiny bit of egg whites (she didn't like yokes) and noodles (I'm trying anything). I put her in the bathtub last night to see if anything is coming out. This morning nothing, but a few minutes latter when I checked there was a huge poop (more than she is eating), this gives me some hope. She still spends 99% of her time sleeping. The twine is organic, so it seems it should dissolve, but who knows how long this will take. It's getting her to eat enough nutrients during this time.

 

[MotherJean]

If she's still drinking, I think I'd try giving her either Pedialyte (found in the baby food section of your supermarket) or Gatorade. The sugar and electrolytes may help keep some nourishment going in. Try yogurt?